Good Fats, Bad Fats

Fat per se is not bad. It’s the type and quantity of fat that matters. Indeed, to function properly, our body needs an adequate and regular intake of fatty acids. These are stored in our body fat and constitute an energy reserve to draw from during prolonged physical exercise. In addition, fat does make food taste good.

In the vast universe of fatty acids, not all fats were created equal. What is important is to choose the right types and to control their amount.

Which fats are “bad”?

Trans fats should be eliminated altogether from our diet. They are present in commercial products made with hydrogenated oil, such as shortening, most baked goods, snacks, etc. They are outright harmful to cardiovascular health. There are no trans fats in the SOS Cuisine meal plans because our recipes use fresh, unprocessed ingredients.

Saturated fats should be limited in our diet: They are mainly found in animal fats such as fatty meats, butter and cheese. Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature. They are present in the SOS Cuisine meal plans, but well below the amounts allowed by Health Canada.

What are “good fats”?

Monounsaturated fats are usually liquid at room temperature and help reducing the level of “bad” cholesterol, a.k.a. “LDL”, which stands for “Low-Density Lipoprotein”. They are found in large quantity in olive and canola oils, avocado, nuts and peanuts.

Polyunsaturated fats, including the famous omega-3: These fatty acids too lower the bad blood cholesterol. They can be found in fatty fish like salmon, trout, herring and sardines. Flaxseeds and omega-3 enriched eggs are also good sources.

So just relax and enjoy, because with SOS Cuisine you are in good hands and sure to minimize your intake of “bad fats” and to enjoy the health benefits and pleasure of “good fats”!

4 Responses to “Good Fats, Bad Fats”

Thank you for the information on fats, good and bad, its always good to review. Lately I’v been hearing a lot of good things about Coconut oil which happens to be a saturated fat. Is this hype on the part of the makers of coconut oil? Even though it’s not an animal fat, it’s still a saturate. I would love to have your opinion on this matter. Also it’s quite expensive.

Dorothy, I don’t know and cannot claim to have the truth, but I have also been reading on the coconut oil hype. Actually extra-virgin coconut-oil. It is costly (normal coconut oil, from brand like Clic, does not cost as much, but people say it is not as healthy).

What I heard is that coconut oil received a bad reputation in the past (probably because it is a saturated fat) and that it was also contraindicated for people with heart problem among other thing. However I also heard this was an error.

My main source for this information is Mercola.com — you might want to search there for coconut oil and see his deep explanation (sometime quite lengthy, but he goes to low-level in some of his article to explain the why). Mind you, he is now selling extra-virgin coconut oil. That does not mean that what he says is untrue though.

Like anything (think of Goji, Omega-3, Probiotics, etc.) it is not a silver bullet to all our problem, but maybe there is some positive benefit for it. If you ever reach a conclusion from your research, let us know!

And I personally like about anything made with coconut so I am biased for the taste part! 😉

I also have Crohn’s disease and I heard stories about coconut helping people stop their chronic diarrhea. Apparently some even substitute their medicine for it. Interesting.

This is a comment about the picture of the plate with similar quantities of salmon, mashed potatoes and rapini. It looks delicious! But nutritionists suggest that to really eat healthily, we should divide the plate into 4 quarters. Meat or fish should occupy one quarter, starches (like potato or rice) another quarter, and veggies, half the plate. I have found an easy way to accomplish this is to add a scoop of mashed sweet potato to my plate. Just microwave the sweet potato, peel it, and mash it on a plate.

We have been using extra-virgin organic unrefined coconut oil for over 2 years now. for allergye reasons, I cannot cook with butter so coconut oil makes a good substitute. I haven’t touched any artificial oil – aka margarine and don’t plan to do so ever again. Saturated fats are not bad per se, if you use adequate amounts and stop eating all the crap in the artificial stuff. We are fairly active as a family, even now with 2 toddlers and expecting a 3rd one. My husband and I actually lost weight or not gained any (except now during my pregnancy)even though we eat full saturated fats. We taste the diference that margarine makes when we go out, and lost interest even in best looking cookies at our friends’ house when we taste them. Try it and read about it. You may not like it, but it surely is good for you. I occasionally cook with animal fat – from organic beef or chickens and it’s always delicious. By the way, both my toddlers are tall and on the skinny side considered here in Canada, and just perfect everywhere else in the world.